Sharing Mayo Clinic - July 2013 Archives

Summer’s here and I’m ready to be outside. Whether it’s going to the beach, attending sporting events, or just strolling downtown, I’ve been looking forward to having fun in the sun. After all, having grown up in Florida, I love being outside. But after being on the job at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville – which is the site of my summer internship – I suddenly realized my activities could be life threatening.

Chuck Jorud had lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 20 years when his kidneys declared, “enough.” He started dialysis and was evaluated for a kidney transplant. “I had young kids at the time and decided that if I was going to have a transplant, I wanted the best,” says Chuck. That led him to Mayo Clinic, where Thomas Schwab, M.D., a nephrologist, suggested he consider a combined kidney-pancreas transplant, which held the promise of a diabetes-free life. “I was blown off my feet. I didn’t even know that existed,” says Chuck, who was placed on the transplant list. And though it likely meant a much longer wait, he decided only to accept organs that were a perfect six out of six antigen match.

It started with a blog post. Danielle Teal, a web production specialist at Mayo Clinic, had written about her New Year's resolution to do one simple act of kindness every day of the year. A friend was so inspired by Teal's post that she decided she'd try to do the same, each week. That, in turn, "re-inspired" Teal, who wondered if they could turn this whole "random act of kindness" thing into something a little bigger. Fast forward to a Friday in May, when Teal and a group of other random Mayo Clinic do-gooders spent their collective lunch break around Mayo's Rochester campus handing out flowers, candy, toys, hugs and smiles to anyone who'd take them. Teal says she began assembling what she dubbed a "random act of kindness flash mob" by sending out an email to some of her "Mayo peeps." She then took to Mayo's internal social and collaboration network, Yammer, and before long, they had something of a movement. "We had people at the Mayo Clinic Florida site doing it, too," she says. Others who couldn't be there committed to random acts of kindness whenever they could.

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As an international patient coordinator at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, I have had many opportunities to work with patients to ensure that they receive the ...

Living in Hawaii definitely has its benefits — the beautiful scenery, the tropical weather, the ocean. But, what if you are living with a chronic condition and there aren't any specialists on the island? For Traci Downs, the answer was Mayo Clinic and Patient Online Services, a tool that enables patients to connect with Mayo Clinic anytime, anywhere.

After surviving two separate lung transplant procedures in 2005 and 2008, musician Larry Rawdon is sharing new ways of healing through music with other patients at Mayo Clinic in Florida. It was, after all, music that led him to Mayo Clinic and aided in his recovery after he was diagnosed in 2002 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Prior to coming to Mayo Clinic, Rawdon had little hope of his condition improving. But a chance meeting in 2005 at a music festival with cardiothoracic surgeon Octavio E. Pajaro, M.D., changed his outlook on his condition and created hope for Rawdon and his family.

At age 30, Anna Webster was a busy single mom juggling work and caring for her 11-year-old daughter. She didn’t have time to be sick. But after passing out one evening in the spring of 2009, she spent three days in a Jacksonville, Fla., emergency room while doctors tried to figure out what was wrong. Her potassium level was extremely low and her kidneys were having issues. Then a CT scan found a mass on her liver.

During a hospitalization for pneumonia more than 20 years ago in her hometown of Barrington, IL, Ilse Hein received very frightening news: she had multiple myeloma. Initially she understood that she had a skin cancer (a melanoma), though she soon learned that multiple myeloma was actually very different: a complex cancer of the bone marrow. Soon thereafter, encouraged by her local physician, Ms. Hein traveled the 5+ hours (drive time) to Rochester and spent a week at Mayo Clinic. There her diagnosis was confirmed and compounded by more bad news: the care team discovered that she also had an incurable non-alcoholic liver disease. One week later she underwent major surgery. Subsequently Ms. Hein was assigned to Dr. Philip Greipp (hematologist) and Dr. Patrick Kamath (hepatologist). They became her guides during her cancer journey. Ms. Hein stated: “Both doctors explained the diseases in detail without instilling panic. They helped to ease my fear with their knowledge, empathy, kindness and concern, and openness. They worked together as a team, and that instills further trust and confidence. Receiving such excellent, custom tailored care and attention always makes me feel like I won the lottery.”